need info

May 11th, 2006, 03:36 PM

My husband is active duty army but is interested in joining the national guard , but we dont know to much about it . Right now he is a 63 Bravo , light/heavy wheel mechanic , is there any job like that in the guard ?
if he decided to join guard does that mean he will have to go through boot camp and AIT again ? can he be active duty national guard ? or is this a strictly weekend warrior type job ? will he still get retirement , and have all the benefits he has now like medical and dental ? just some quesitons that would make our decision on whether or not to go guard easier .

[QUOTE=kiowaterlouw]My husband is active duty army but is interested in joining the national guard , but we dont know to much about it . Right now he is a 63 Bravo , light/heavy wheel mechanic , is there any job like that in the guard ?
if he decided to join guard does that mean he will have to go through boot camp and AIT again ? can he be active duty national guard ? or is this a strictly weekend warrior type job ? will he still get retirement , and have all the benefits he has now like medical and dental ? just some quesitons that would make our decision on whether or not to go guard easier .[/QUOTE]

1. [B]Right now he is a 63 Bravo , light/heavy wheel mechanic , is there any job like that in the guard ? If he decided to join guard does that mean he will have to go through boot camp and AIT again ?[/B] No, he doesn't have to go to boot camp and will not have to go to AIT if he enlists for the same MOS.

2. [B]Can he be active duty national guard ? Or is this a strictly weekend warrior type job ?[/B] There are frequent announcements for AGR or Technician jobs in the National Guard (these are the full time positions in the Guard). He can apply for them, but will have to wait at least six months if he gets an enlistment bonus. Out of the two (AGR and Technician) getting the AGR position would be the best. He would have a good chance to be picked up for an AGR or Technician position with 63B as his MOS. It he doesn't get the AGR position, it'll be as you put it a "weekend warrior" position.

3. [B]Will he still get retirement , and have all the benefits he has now like medical and dental ?[/B] The time he spend on drills, active duty for training, active duty for special work and active duty during deployments will count towards retirement (retirement computation is different than that of active duty unless all your retirement eligible time in the Guard is active duty (full time). He will have full medical during drills and annual training unless he becomes a full-timer in which case he gets the same Tricare medical as the active duty Army. He can get full time dental coverage for the entire family at a discount when on part-time status.

Finally, he can use the "Try One" option where he enlists for one year to see if the Guard is something he would enjoy and reenlist anytime within that year if he likes it. Have him contact a local National Guard recruiter to see what opportunities your state may have as far as AGR or technician positions. As with any other enlistment, he needs to have as much information as he can gather before making his decision. I hope this would answer some of your questions.

Comment

What is an AGR or technician job ? is it like the guard contracting out or is it a guard position fully ? AGR is a better position how ? what is the difference between an AGR and a technician ? How does he apply to be an AGR or technician ?
you said he would have to wait 6 months is he got an enlistment bonus , wait 6 months for what ? the bonus or the position ?
Will he have to sign up to be in the guard before he knows if he can get the AGR ot technician position ? he really doesnt want to be a weekend warrior so there really isnt any sense in him signing on if he isnt going to be full time , then he will just stay active duty army .
As for the retirement thing , it said that time spent on active duty such as training drills and deployments would count toward his retirment but if he gets a AGR or technician position and that means he is full time does that mean he will have the same retirement as active duty army ?
I was also confused about the dental , it said that he would get dental at a discount when on part time status , what about full time status ? if he is a full timer will he still get discounted dental or will it be free ?
Finally i know he should contact a recruiter within our state but right now he is in afghanistan . so im doing the research for him. But is he were here and he enlisted to the guard for an AGR / technician position does that mean we will have to stay in this state or can we still go somewhere else ?
Oh and say he did get an AGR position , does the guard move you around like the army or is it stationary , and does being in the guard decrease his chances of being deployed if he was full time or are they still going to be the same , i really would like the un sugar coated version of that answer please .
thanks so much .